Jarrett said something but she only heard a rumble. When he called out her name, she turned on him. Watched him sit at the head of the conference table with Wade and Elijah on one side and Bast on the other. The energy bouncing around inside her made it impossible for her to sit down. So, she stared down the length of the room at the man who shared her bed but refused to trust her with anything.
She said the first thing that came to her mind and didn’t involve a lot of swearing. “I’m still trying to believe you took Elijah in after how he arrested you.”
Jarrett had the nerve to shrug. “If it’s any consolation, I shot him first.”
“Allegedly.” Bast didn’t bother lifting his head from the file he was reading.
“Not allegedly,” Jarrett said. “I did shoot him.”
Wade raised a hand. “I was there.”
Elijah rubbed what was likely the injury area. “It still fucking hurts.”
They acted like this was some big joke. Becca wanted to find her gun and take aim at all of them until they sobered and started spilling every last piece of information on what had happened during the last eight months. Never mind that Elijah and Jarrett should be bitter enemies or that Elijah threatened Jarrett with a gun in this very room less than a half hour ago. Now they were joking buddies.
She would never understand men.
She glanced at Elijah and had no trouble calling up her anger for the man. Without thinking, her teeth crashed together in a grimace. “You’re lucky it was Jarrett who shot you. I wouldn’t have wasted a bullet on your shoulder.”
“Now that we’re all here, I think we can modify the agenda a bit. Let’s get back to what we know and make sure we’re on the same page.” Bast made check marks on the list in front of him as he talked. “Someone gave the order to move on Spectrum. Natalie is claiming ignorance and is on the hunt for Becca to pin it on her.”
Elijah shook his head. “Typical agency bullshit.”
“I agree.” Becca might hate most everything Elijah stood for, but he got this one right.
If Jarrett noticed the fiery glares she was sending his way or the rising stress evident on everyone’s faces, he didn’t let on. He sat there, calm, as if he were handling a boring board of directors meeting. “What about Todd?”
Papers shuffled and a pen rolled across the desk as Bast closed one file and opened another. “My sources are saying he’s playing the wounded victim well.”
“He got hit by a car.” Elijah rolled his eyes. “Big fucking deal.”
Bast flipped through a few pages. “The guy had a collapsed lung and was in a medically induced coma.”
Becca bit back a smile. Bast night be a super negotiator and accustomed to working through people’s problems, but he clearly didn’t understand the undercover world or how easy it was to fake an accident. She decided to educate him. “It is hard to believe a paid assassin would knock Todd down but not finish the job.”
“Absolutely.” Wade nodded. “It’s faked. I’ve said that from the beginning, even over Jarrett’s objections.”
“It’s enough of an injury to lure suspicion away but not enough to permanently sideline him.” Elijah backed them both up, emphasizing his argument by pointing to something on the crime incident photos.
“I would have circled back around and run over him.” Not that she ever ran someone over, but she didn’t need those months of training in Berlin to envision how she’d get the deed done if it had to be done. If it was a matter of survival or the only way to protect Jarrett.
“Me, too.” Elijah said as he thumped his finger against the photo. “Wouldn’t have given him the love tap in the first place. Gone right for the kill and sped away before my face or vehicle registered in anyone’s mind.”
Bast’s eyebrow lifted. “Bloodthirsty crowd.”
“What I’m wondering about is message management.” Jarrett talked on as if the rest of the room hadn’t been discussing the top ten ways to squish a guy with a car.
“Meaning?” she asked.
Jarrett made a face. “I’m not sure everyone at the CIA is buying Todd’s tale.”
“True, but Todd led an operation that brought in helpful intel, which buys him some time,” Bast said.
“You mean me.” Jarrett leaned back in his chair and grabbed for the armrests. “I gave up the intel.”
She could see the tension pump through him. Those dark eyes didn’t focus, and he slid into a world only he seemed to occupy. She wanted to snap her fingers to bring him back, but went with talking louder. “What exactly did you hand over?”
Jarrett being Jarrett, she expected him to dodge the question. Pull the “I’m in charge” crap and tell them all to move on. When it came to the unraveling of his life, starting eight months ago, he shut down. Whatever came before, this topic cut him off.
He looked at his fingers as he tapped them against the armrest. “Information having to do with the tenuous nature of the Chinese housing market.”
The words fell into the silence. Elijah stared. Becca did, too, but for her own reasons. In that moment she didn’t even care what he said. She was too busy being stunned by the fact that he shared anything. She tried to say something, but she stammered and nothing coherent came out.
Elijah didn’t suffer from the problem of surprised silence. “You’ve got to be kidding. How is that top secret? Wade and I saw it on the news the other night.”
“They’re building huge cities and no one is moving in,” Jarrett said, ignoring the outburst. “Everyone in charge knows that much, but no one is talking about it. Still, that’s not the secret. The amount of the U.S. financial market tied up in the mess is the problem, especially for a few businesses and congressmen who are keeping it quiet after trying to capitalize in secret.”
“Then there are the rumors about the military equipment being moved into some of those empty cities. As you can imagine, those same businessmen and congressmen are not happy to be connected with that part of the business.” Bast flipped a photo around and showed it to the rest of them.
Becca made out buildings and equipment in the aerial views. Her gaze went to Jarrett. “You have satellite photos.”
He didn’t blink. “More importantly and more damaging, I have evidence from on the ground in China. Photos of powerful people being where they shouldn’t be, having personal knowledge of the military buildup they now act shocked to hear about.”
Only Jarrett would find it normal to have information that should be locked in safes deep inside the CIA and reserved for a few eyes only. “Why do you even know any of this?”
Did he really not understand what this meant for his safety? This wasn’t just about government operations. They were talking about big money and bad PR for a lot of powerful people. If those people traced the leaks back to Jarrett, the CIA would be the least of his worries. There were plenty of mercenaries out there happy to collect a paycheck for taking Jarrett out.
The security system and designing the perfect takedown would be a game to those sick folks. She knew because she lived right on the edge of being one of those types.
He shrugged. “I hear things.”
Again with the shoulder thing. The flippant attitude made her want to strangle him. Just reach right down that long table and wrap her fingers around his neck. Maybe shake some sense into him as well. She settled for a final question. “What does this have to do with international drug running?”
Jarrett dug his fingernails into the leather chair. “Not a damn thing.”
“Because that never happened.” Wade glared at her as he said it, as if daring her to debate him.
“Apparently not.” She didn’t doubt the protests anymore.
Somewhere between Jarrett’s vehemence and the story about his mother, Becca became a believer. And that made her all the angrier because it meant she’d been used and lied to,
and in the process lost Jarrett.
“So, basically, the operation here was fake.” Elijah stood up and walked to the window. “Despite what the briefing material said, the only goal was to grab Jarrett and shake him down for info.”
“Looks like it.” Which meant Todd either got conned, too, or he led the subterfuge. Either way, she blamed him for this mess. He was in charge. It was his job not to just rubber-stamp whatever he got handed from above.
They were a CIA splinter group. They didn’t have to worry about checking in and playing by the rules. They didn’t have to talk with Langley every two seconds. They ran free. That was the point of their operation.
None of this should have happened.
Bast smiled. “Maybe they could have asked nicely and Jarrett would have helped out?”
“That’s not really how the CIA operates.” Elijah put a hand against the bulletproof glass. “The people there tend to shoot first, ask later.”
Wade blew out a breath as he slumped back in his chair. “Bast was kidding.”
Jarrett joined Elijah in standing. He gathered the photos relating to China and put them back in the file. “At least we’re all on the same page.”
Elijah spun around. “Are we?”
“All information is shared from here on in. You two use this room to investigate whatever you need.” Jarrett turned all of his attention to Elijah. “And you stop being an asshole.”
She thought about rolling her eyes but decided she wasn’t the type. “Impossible.”
Elijah talked right over her. “You’re still assuming the person who made the hits isn’t in this room.”
“You managed to prove her ‘asshole’ comment true right after she said it,” Bast pointed out.
With everything that happened today and the emotional upheaval, Elijah’s words set off something inside her. She went from standing there, trying to stay on her feet while exhaustion ripped through her body, to wanting to tear Elijah apart. Hit him and keep hitting him. “I didn’t kill anyone. If I had, and if that’s what I wanted, you’d have a bullet in the back of your head right now.”
“And if he wanted you dead, he would have made a move that first night you got here,” Wade said, matching his angry tone to hers. “He’s known you were here the whole time. So, I guess you’re even.”
And she intended to have a long conversation with Jarrett on that topic. She wanted to know what Elijah could see and why . . . at least she thought she wanted to know. “How comforting.”
Elijah groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re back to Natalie, Todd or one of the higher-ups, and the question of why they killed the team that brought in Jarrett and his information. Why they wasted assets.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Jarrett’s low voice sounded confident.
The firm tone was enough to ease the crazy spinning inside her stomach. At least for now.
Without doing anything more than shifting in his chair, all attention went to Bast. He looked at Jarrett. “Can I talk with you?”
Jarrett nodded.
Elijah snorted. “I thought we were all sharing everything now.”
“He’s the client. You pay my exorbitant bill and I’ll have a private meeting with you, too.” Bast ended the talk by pointing his thumb toward the door. “Go.”
She wanted to balk, at least argue. But when Wade and Elijah moved to the door, she followed. Bast wanted privacy, fine. She’d give Jarrett two minutes to come clean once they were alone upstairs. He accused her of using sex to get her way. This time she just might do it.
• • •
Jarrett dreaded the conversation before Bast even opened his mouth. Watching the three others drag their butts out of the conference room, as if going slow would mean they’d overhear something, showed they didn’t know Bast very well. The guy had enough patience for an entire town.
The door clicked shut and Bast started shaking his head. “No.”
Jarrett tried to remember what he said last. When nothing came to him, he gave up. “What are you talking about?”
“I know what you’re thinking and the answer is no.”
“Care to clue me in because I don’t know the topic we’re discussing.” Oh, but he did. Jarrett recognized the knowing look and scolding tone. Bast was a very smart man and he likely knew exactly where Jarrett’s mind had jumped.
That’s what happened when you shared a friendship and business relationship with someone who’d known you for a decade. One of the negatives people cited about him was his refusal to let anyone get close. He had with Bast and now this happened. No hiding.
“Stop pretending to be a dumb street kid.” Bast turned his pen end-over-end against the yellow legal pad in front of him.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re thinking to take some of that information we held back as leverage to save you and use it to flush out the person who put a hit on Spectrum.”
Jarrett didn’t bother to deny the plan. It had barely taken root but it was there and growing in his mind. It made sense and it might be the only way. “I’ve got to end this before Elijah does something that gets us all in trouble.”
“Then cut him loose.” Bast drew a line through something on his written list.
That sounded good, smart even, but there were other considerations. Elijah knew too much. Then there was the part where Jarrett had promised to help. He wasn’t the type to abandon that. And he couldn’t even think about what it would do to Wade if something happened to Elijah. Any way you looked at it, the guy was a pain in the ass, but he’d been useful and Jarrett owed him.
“How do I do that exactly?” Jarrett asked.
“I don’t want to know how you handle these things, or once did, but you know people. Make it happen.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence in my legitimacy.”
“I believe you’re the one who referred to the concept as plausible deniability.” Bast dropped the pen. “More to the point, you can’t save everyone.”
Jarrett stood up and walked to the side of the table opposite Bast. He didn’t need to stall or analyze his priorities. He knew the answer. “Then I save Becca and Wade.”
“I thought that might be your answer.”
Jarrett recognized the tone. It carried a hint of “you’re fucking up here,” and Jarrett had been catching it from Wade and Bast ever since he let Becca back inside the building. “But you disagree with it. With Becca being one of my choices.”
“I did.”
“And now?”
Bast smiled. “Seeing her pull a gun on Elijah made me like her a lot more.”
Not the answer Jarrett expected, but he’d take it. “No kidding.”
“So, we agree. We’re a no-go on turning over more files.” Bast slipped two off Jarrett’s pile. “We’re done with the idea of playing your last card. We’ll come up with something else and figure out a way to diffuse Elijah and make him play nice with Becca.”
Jarrett slapped a hand against the folders before Bast could tuck them under his notebook. “Not exactly.”
“Jarrett, come on.”
“Put the pitch together using my plan with the information. We’ll see how it would work and what it would cost me.”
Bast sat back in his chair. “Clearly, we’re having a communication problem.”
“Becca walks away from this. That’s my bottom line.” Until he said the words, Jarrett didn’t know they were true. He could take anything but losing her. She didn’t have to stay with him or live in his condo, but he needed to know she was out there somewhere and safe.
“I’m so glad we had this talk.” Bast shuffled the rest of his files and grabbed his briefcase from under the table. “I just love when I earn my fee.”
“It’s going to work out.”
Bast froze as his head lifted. “Really, be
cause I notice you forgot an important name on your list of people to protect. The one person who should be at the very top.”
“You’re fine. No one is coming after you.” Jarrett didn’t even entertain the possibility that it couldn’t be true. “You have the protection of privilege, which I won’t waive, and—”
“I meant you, dumbass.”
“I’ll be fine.” Jarrett had no idea if that was true or if he even cared any more, but the fact his safety mattered to Bast meant something.
“You put it all on the table. Offer up names of businessmen and congressmen who know about the China military deal, the ones you held back, along with information on other brewing international political disasters and whatever other pieces you’ve discovered since we last talked about this. And what keeps any of those you name from making you a target?”
Probably nothing but Jarrett knew it was the chance he had to take. Maybe he always knew it would end this way. Otherwise, he would have locked the door and refused to let Becca in. But once he opened the door, he made a commitment. He’d honor it. Because that’s what idiot men did when they fell in love. They got stupid and careless.
“I’ve collected other intel on other subjects,” he said, because asking about updating his will would only piss Bast off.
“And how exactly do you plan to live long enough to use it? You’ve got me and Wade, but I don’t know how to stop a bullet.”
“Stay out of the firing line.”
“Then who is going to step up for you?”
Jarrett’s mind went back to the conference room scene. He had spent his entire life wondering about the answer to that question. Not his useless mother or the grandmother who gave up on him after a month and one broken window. Not the series of foster homes or the supposedly well-meaning judge who threatened to send him to juvie to “teach him some manners” after he ran away the second time.
Bast and Wade, yes. Jarrett appreciated their loyalty and didn’t take it for granted, but he’d never let it come to that. And now he knew the one other person who would save him without hesitating—Becca. “I have to get lucky, I guess.”
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